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Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Cutters Having Metallic Coatings

Inactive Publication Date: 2018-03-29
JIANG WENHUI
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent is about a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutter that has a metallic material coating. The coating is made of one or multiple layers of carbide-forming metals such as titanium, niobium, zirconium, or tungsten, or their alloys. The outermost layer may have good oxidation resistance and is made of metals like nickel, cobalt, or palladium. A strong bond between the coating and the PDC cutter can be achieved using various methods like heat treatment or brazing. The thickness of the coating is between 0.04 μm and 100 μm. The coating can be applied using physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, thermoreactive deposition and diffusion, electrolytic plating, or electroless plating, or their combinations.

Problems solved by technology

But, the PDC cutters have poor brazing capability and the bonding strengths are low.
In addition, tungsten carbide (in a sintered tungsten carbide substrate), diamond (in a PCD table), and cobalt (in both sintered tungsten carbide substrate and PCD table) in the PDC cutters have a tendency to be oxidized and degrade during brazing operations or cutting applications where significant heat is generated.
Especially, diamond is vulnerable in air or an oxygen containing environment at high temperatures, and it tends to be oxidized and graphitize.
As a result, the PDC cutters may suffer premature failure.
In fact, it has been recognized that diamond particles degrade and lose during brazing operations and cutting applications when they are embedded in grinding, abrading, or cutting sections of various tools.
But, they are not good at oxidation resistance at high temperatures.
Refractory compound coatings may not improve oxidation resistance of a PCD and a PDC cutter significantly.
Furthermore, bonding of the compound coating with the PCD and its cutter may not be metallurgical, and thus, its bonding strength is limited.
Although PDC cutters are very successful as a cutting element in drilling tools for earth exploration and production, their premature failure still affects performance and efficiency of the drilling tools.
The protection of the PDC cutters from thermal damages during brazing and cutting application is still an urgent task.

Method used

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  • Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Cutters Having Metallic Coatings
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Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

PDC Cutter by PVD—Ion Plating

[0054]A cylindrical PDC cutter of 16 mm diameter and 12.5 mm height was used for experiment. The PDC cutter consists of an unleached PCD table of 2 mm height and a sintered tungsten carbide body of 10.5 mm height as a substrate. The PDC cutter was subjected to ion plating processing to deposit Cr over all the exterior surfaces of the PCD table and the side surfaces of the sintered tungsten carbide body. Ion plating is one of PVD processes that is also referred to as ion assisted deposition. The coating metal is Cr. The PDC cutter was rinsed ultrasonically in acetone, dried, and then put into a chamber of an ion plating machine. The process was performed in vacuum. The deposition temperature is 350° C. and the deposition time is 1.5 hours. The coating thickness is about 2 μm.

example 2

PDC Cutter by Electrolytic Plating

[0055]The PDC cutter with the Cr coating of example 1 was further coated with Ni by electrolytic plating. Electrolyte solution consists of 280 g / L NiSO4.6H2O, 30 g / L NiCl2.6H2O, 35 g / L H3BO3, and 2 g / L C9H6O2. The PH value of the electrolyte solution is 4. Anode is a nickel plate and cathode is the PDC cutter to be plated. Cathode current density is about 5 A / dm2. The temperature of the plating bath is 55° C. The plating time is 30 min. The Ni coating with a thickness of about 20 μm covers over all the exterior surfaces of the PCD table and the side surfaces of the sintered tungsten carbide. The coating has two layers. The inner coating layer is Cr and the outer coating layer is Ni.

example 3

tment of Coated PDC Cutter

[0056]The PDC cutter with the two layer coating of example 2 was subject to heat treatment. The heat treatment was performed in an electric resistance furnace under flowing Ar. The heating rate is 10° C. / min. The predetermined holding temperature is 630° C. and the predetermined holding time is 1 hour. The PDC cutter was cooled in the furnace by turning off the power while keeping Ar flowing. The heat treatment is to achieve a metallurgical bonding between the PCD table of the PDC cutter and the coating layer. FIG. 6 shows the PDC cutter with the two layer coating and subjected to the heat treatment. The coating is continuous, crack free, and impermeable. The coating would isolate the PCD table of the PDC cutter from oxygen in atmosphere during brazing operations and cutting services. It would protect the PCD table from thermal degradations such as oxidation and graphitization of diamond. At the same time, the coating on the side surfaces of the sintered tu...

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Abstract

Polycrystalline diamond compact cutter with a metallic coating is disclosed. The coating covers the whole exterior surfaces of polycrystalline diamond table and may extend over partially or completely the exterior surfaces of a cemented carbide body substrate. The coating may have a metallurgical bonding with the polycrystalline diamond compact cutter, which is characterized by the formation of a carbide during deposition processes, heat treatments, or brazing operations. The coating may be a single layer or multilayer coating. The coating metallic material adjacent to the polycrystalline diamond compact cutter is the carbide-forming metals selected from Ti, Nb, Zr, V, Ta, Hf, Cr, W, Mo, or the alloys containing any of these metals. The outer layer of a multilayer coating consists of oxidation-resistant metals or alloys. Coating processes utilize physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, thermoreactive deposition and diffusion, electrolytic plating, electroless plating, any deposition methods, or their combinations.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 400,922, filed on Sep. 28, 2016, titled “Hard Material Compacts Having Carbide / Nitride / Boride-Forming Metal Coatings,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—PRIOR ART[0002]The following is a tabulation of some prior arts that presently appear relevant:U.S. PatentsPatent NumberKind CodeIssue DatePatentee3356473A1967 Dec. 5Hull et al.3650714A1972 Mar. 21Farkas3957461A1976 May 18Lindstrom et al.3929432A1975 Dec. 30Caveney3984214A1976 Oct. 5Pratt et al.6663682B22003 Dec. 16Baldoni et al.4399167A1983 Aug. 16Pipkin5024680A1991 Jun. 18Chen et al.5049164A1991 Sep. 17Horton et al.4738689A1988 Apr. 19Gigl etal.5529805A1996 Jun. 25Iacovangelo et al.5626909A1997 May 6Iacovangelo4605343A1986 Aug. 12Hibbs et al.5833021A1998 Nov. 10Mensa-Wilmot et al.U.S. Patent Application PublicationsPublication N...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): E21B10/567C23C14/18
CPCC23C14/18E21B10/567C23C14/0635C23C16/32C23C30/005
Inventor JIANG, WENHUI
Owner JIANG WENHUI